When They Come for You
by STARdini
Summary: Kiev lives with his widowed(?) mother and older brother, Autry. He's changed his surname two times already (illegally of course) and is no longer able to attend school, so self-studies textbooks at home. There's things he knows(learnt from Autry) and things he doesn't (hidden away by his mother). Please note: this world is slightly different from Tokyo Ghoul's.
1. Caught00-eating bones

_**Hi, um, I'm kinda new here, so if I get something wrong, please tell me. I'd like to know. **_

...

"Now wash your hands with soap", my mum reminds me. "Wash your face the same too, Kiev", she adds, as I grin after taking one last bite. I can feel the thin, already cooling wetness, smeared around my mouth and chin.

"Well, it's not my fault I got a bone". - trying to eat all the meat around it, without breaking at least half the conventions on table manners, was difficult. And, this particular bone was of the thick kind, with lots of marrow in the middle, just the way I liked it. I'd picked a piece with bone, on purpose and it was entirely my fault.

Now, all that was left of my meal was a bone sucked dry, with the surrounding inedible jelly-like stuff left around it. The odd shape reminded me of the sheep hearts we tried eating once. Of course, it tasted fine, but only worked as a kind of quick-fix, if we were really hungry. The pack didn't have long to sit around in the fridge, since the three of us finished it all in the one sitting. I ate one, my mum and older brother had two each. Now, we always have two packs sitting in the fridge, just in case.

Sometimes Autry, my older brother, will come home tired from university, and eat one, until my mum comes home from the hospital. Then we'll all head over to Antique, a small café in the next town, where they'll give us what we really want.

It always comes in a brown-paper bag, wrapped in baking paper, to keep anything from seeping out. Of course, as with animal meats, it _is_ drained first, but it's probably wrapped like that, as a precaution anyway.

And when we get back home again, for dinner, we all have a small piece of the package, to get us through the next morning.

Because, after all, nothing beats human meat.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

**_Hi~_**

**_So it's the boring author here to ask you of your opinion. I know that this chapter is particularly short, but the others will hopefully be longer, but perhaps not as long as many of you would like. I usually aim only for about 500 or more words per chapter(not including my little soliloquies at the start and end of each chapter). Also, if any of you believe that I could possibly be breaking a guideline, please let me know, because I really don't like the idea of having my account deleted. _**

**_And I know I'm a terrible author, because I have yet to envision the ending for this story(isn't it just strange when you're so sure of the start and middle, but not the ending?). All ideas and suggestions are gratefully welcome and I will consider each and every one of them (if I get any anyway TT TT)_**

**_Till next time, _**

**_STARdini_**


	2. Caught01-at the door

**_Hi, just a warning that I tend to go missing for weeks/months to finally come back with a single chapter. So don't be shocked. You're allowed to be angry, though. _**

...

"Mum?"

"Yeah?", she looks up, as she pulls on a pair of socks. It's winter now, and the tiles are getting especially chilly.

"What made you become a surgeon? I mean, isn't it strange to be operating on food?", boredom births questions.

She snorts as if I just told a really funny joke.

"Trust me, it isn't like that, Kiev", she finally says.

"Then, what? What _is_ it like?"

"Well, you have to understand, that humans are people just like us. And when you're working on a real life person, with blood flowing through their bodies, it's really different to the square of meat you eat for lunch, you know", she looks at me meaningfully, as I wonder what's taking Autry so long today. It's already six, and he still hasn't come home. When I don't look convinced, she adds; "And ghouls need surgeons too – non-human ones that won't get confused when they see an RC organ sitting in their patient"

"What's RC?" I think I vaguely remember learning something about that and how they can be found in both ghouls and humans, but I couldn't be sure. It was just so long ago.

"Don't worry; I'll explain it to you properly, later". I get the feeling that 'later' wouldn't be anytime soon.

We both hear the sound of the front door opening, then quickly shutting closed and turn in the direction of my breathless brother. He looks completely shocked and his voice comes out slightly shaky and nervous when he says,

"Sorry I'm late". He looks like a cornered rabbit, with his back and palms pressed firmly against the door.

"Whatever's the matter?", mum looks stricken.

"No , I", Autry starts breathing a little normally now, "-I think it could've just been my imagination"

"What was your imagination?", I can sense the rising panic in the room. And it's getting to me.

"Doves . . .", Autry whispers the word like a curse, in the way characters in _Har*y Pot*er_ say the name 'Volderm*rt.'

"Are you sure?" mum sounds surprisingly calm.

"No, they were just men carrying around silver cases that looked like they . . ."

" . . .quinques", mum says it with disgust. I knew what they were. From what I'd heard, they were weapons made from the parts of ghouls that Doves (ghoul investigators) had killed. Then those weapons were used to kill more ghouls and collect more weapons. They attacked us with what we used to defend ourselves. It was almost ironical in a really sick sense. But then I remember what my mum said about everyone being people. But I eat people for lunch. Literally. I eat them for dinner too. -I don't have them for breakfast though, because we just have a cup of black coffee every morning.

Autry suddenly jumps back when the door shakes. Someone has just knocked. At our door. It could be an investigator.

Come to kill us all.


	3. Caught02-in the past

**_Hey, so I'm back with a new chapter earlier than expected, since we're still in the early parts of the story and there's not much for readers to judge by yet. And thanks to _imma dino hear me roar_, for being the first to favorite this ^^ _**

* * *

It happened when Autry I were still in primary school. It also took place on an evening. Me and Autry came home to find mum there waiting for us. At the time, she was still studying and didn't have a full-time job.

The sockets of her eyes were red rings around her pink eyes. Her irises were a piercing black; matching the long hair tied at her neck. Except it wasn't. It hung loose, swinging off her shoulders, down to her waist. Some of it stuck to her tear-stained cheeks and all she said, as she stood up from the dining table, was;

"We have to go".

Autry didn't ask anything, but just helped mum burn all our photos in the sink. He collected all the photos from frames and albums and threw them in. Including dad's. Mum had wiped the sink dry and then lit a match on the evidence of our memories. We watched it all go down the sink, as she turned the tap on. I didn't dare say anything, the fear and tension swallowing me whole.

As mum and Autry rushed around trying to pack things, I was given the job of scrubbing the sink with a steel-wool sponge, to get rid of the suspicious brown burns that marred the basin. Because I couldn't quite reach, I stood on a small wooden stool, with my shoulders in the sink. I cried quietly as I did. I cried even though I didn't yet have a logical reason to. I'd heard that boys weren't meant to cry, but still I cried for nothing. And then nothing was what we got.

_Where's dad?_ I wanted to ask. _Where are we going? Will dad be where we're going? _He wasn't._ Why was mum crying? Why are we running away? What are we running from anyway? Investigators? Where we running from other ghouls that mum and dad had been involved with? _Autry and I knew by then that not all of our parents' 'old friends' were exactly nice._ Why isn't Autry saying anything? Does Autry know what's going on? Will he be able to explain it to me?_

As the three of us ran from our old apartment, carrying the only things left of our old lives, Autry finally cried. Or at least I think he did. I've never asked him.

His shoulders shook a little, under the white cotton of his school shirt, and his breaths grew shorter. For a moment I was unsure of what to do. I couldn't exactly hug him mid-run, with an over-stuffed shopping bag in one hand and a back-pack big enough to cover the whole of my behind. So I just reached out my free hand and held his. Just to let him know that his useless little brother was still there for him. I didn't even know what for.

When we had arrived at the train station, mum bought four tickets. _Four. _That had got my hopes up, and I began to ask about where dad was, and why we hadn't seen him at all, that week. I was surprised and a little hurt, when Autry quickly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it pink. He was telling me to shut-up. Mum chose to ignore my half-asked question, anyway. She remained silent the whole time, and said not a word to either of us.

Even though we had bought the tickets, we never boarded the train. Instead, we went by foot.

We probably only walked for a short time, but to my tired legs, it felt like hours. My class had had sport that day. Probably the last sport lesson I'd ever have.

As the sky began to darken, a black-clad lady stopped us. My mum fumbled out some words under her breath, to which the lady nodded and handed over some papers and what looked like thin little books.

That was the second time in my life, that I'd had my name changed.

The first time it happened was when I was still a baby, but I'm not sure that Autry was still old enough at the time to remember.

I pondered silently to myself whether it was this same lady that had given the false documentation for us to live as different people almost half a decade ago.

I still remember what she looked like. She wore long, heeled boots and a short skirt over her black denim. Even her hair was black and long. She wore a mask that looked like it had a beak, but let her red eyes and black sclera show through. The bottom half of her face was left exposed to the cold, the red lips kept in a cautious smile. _Were all ghouls this whacky-looking?_ Of course I flinched involuntarily when she ruffled my hair. I guess as the shortest, I was the most likely target. As she brought her hand near me, I could smell the sharp scent of after-shave. Strange.

The lady in the mask got the three of us into the back of her van (that wasn't white) and drove us until midday the following afternoon.

We were all shown to an apartment complex. This was where my family would all live. Without dad.

* * *

**_So that's my ideal word-length. But please keep in mind that the word-length is likely to change from chapter-to-chapter, without warning. Next chapter will probably go back to the present._**

**_Happy Reading! ^^_**

_**STARdini~**_


	4. Caught03-with a friend

_**Hiya guys, I know, I know, this is a little late. To be honest, I meant to have this up last week (In fact I'd already had it done before then;), but life likes to throw sht at you sometimes, just to see how you react, I guess, but yeah, things'll keep rolling and what-not. And it makes me happy to think that Kiev just got another follower for his story, in the middle of all this mess; **_**ProtoGod _\- Thanks!_**

_**Enjoy the chapter^^**_

* * *

Autry suddenly jumps back a bit when the door shakes. Someone has just knocked. At our door.

It could be an investigator.

Come to kill us all.

"I'm so sorry, mum", Autry whispers, "I'm so sorry Kiev. I tried to lose them, I swear I did – I didn't want them to follow me to you guys", I think he's crying. I haven't ever seen Autry cry since we first made our way here. Not even when his girlfriend dumped him. But that was two months ago.

"Hey, you in there? It's me, Marion, Stella?", a woman's voice comes through the door. Stella was my mum's name, but there was something unsettling about the name 'Marion'. It sounded similar to my mum's old middle name; 'Mary-Ann'.

"Open it", my mum looks my brother in the eyes. Autry raises an apprehensive expression, and mum just nods. He edges away from the door, and clumsily shoves the key in the lock.

Two men with silver brief-cases enter. Oh, no. Perhaps it was all just a trick.

But then a woman enters.

She wears coal-coloured heels and stockings with a collared black shirt. The woman takes off her sunglasses, and appears to survey our small apartment as if appraising it. I can imagine the walls cowering under her gaze.

And then she walks past Autry and sits down right next to mum, on the couch.

Autry and I remain on guard, even when mum smiles genuinely at her.

"Well, hasn't it been a while, Marion? Would you and your companions like a cup of coffee?", Mum gets up to go to the kitchen. _Are these people ghouls also? Mum knows them? _

"No, Stella. You know what I'm actually here for, don't you?", the way Marion says mum's name, makes it sound like the the binding of a spell or chain. In my peripheral-vision I see Autry shift from the door, to stand directly behind Marion. The two men also move closer to my brother. They now stand on either side of Marion and their metal cases are in my full view. I wonder what could be inside them, if not quinques-

"Here", the leaner of the two men bends over the couch and places his case on the coffee table.

"Thank you, Meredith" Marion says in monotone. _Wait- Meredith isn't a man's name . . ._

My mistake is confirmed when I realise Meredith's lips are too pink to not have any lip-gloss on them. And now that _she_'s knelt by the coffee table, under the artificial light, the brown bun at her nape is visible. But only Marion is wearing a skirt among the three and is the only one not wearing a black suit. These people kept getting weirder by the second.

"Stella's in the kitchen", Marion lightly brushes Meredith's wrist and gets up from the couch. I realise that even as Marion walks away, Meredith remains holding her head in the same direction, as if looking over the case. I'm guessing that's the work of the, uh . . . blindfold? Unlike the rest of her business-like outfit, the cloth tied at the back of her head is chequered in bright aqua and basil.

"Why have you covered your eyes?" I ask, feeling a little braver, with Marion gone and Autry still here, though the presence of the other man still unnerves me.

"Hehe, you want to see?", Meredith is already untying her blindfold. And then, eyes still closed, she stands up and begins to turn slowly on the spot, until she stops, facing my brother. "Were you the one that asked?". But Autry is already moving towards where I'm sitting, and now he stands in between the couch and the coffee table. "Ah,so it was the smaller one who asked?", she is now directly facing us. _How can she know the difference between us, when she can't even see?_ But then I realise that the blind fold is clenched in her hand. But surely she can't properly see us? Her eyes are like poached eggs, with opaque blue marbles in the centre of each eye. The marbling reminds me of the fat dispersed in meat.

"Do I talk a lot?", Meredith interrupts our observation, and begins to tie back her blind fold. When she sits down by the table again, I ask,

"Were you always blind? How could you tell where we were sitting and what direction to face?"

"Heh, that's a lot of questions. It's called echo-location", the silent man finally speaks. He has a yellow-brown tan, and wears a black fedora, the brim lowered to shadow his eyes. Is he blind too? When he gives us a side-ways glance with bright green eyes, I realise he can't be.

Mum finally comes out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with six mugs of hot coffee. My brother and I stare meaningfully at her.

"Ah, boys, Marion's an old acquain-"

"-friend", Marion interjects.

"an old friend of mine", mum finishes.

* * *

**_Yeah, so this chapter kinda works as an introduction to some new characters that will be important for later. In the next chapter, a lot of the main . . . themes(?) will probably be set. I'll hopefully have it out within the week. _**


	5. Caught04-by sleep

_**No, I didn't disappear. Sorry, my screen cracked and I'm using a replacement at the moment, even to post this chapter. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a replacement until just yesterday. But don't panic about future chapters, cos I keep everything on USB now. - I've already learnt my lesson, from when I used to use Wattpad and had the hard-drive mess-up on me (it was horrible! - so depressing were those days . . .). Well, hope you enjoy the chapter^^**_

* * *

"An old friend of mine", mum tilts her head slightly, towards Marion, and proceeds to offer everyone coffee.

She holds the tray to Marion first. The three strangers (well, they are to me, if not to mum) give a polite 'thank you', as they take their cup.

Our family sits facing the other three, the coffee table between us. We've coincidentally split into perfect teams of three, between the two couches.

"Who are you, and what are you here for?" Autry doesn't hesitate or falter. Despite mum's overall neutrality, Autry is still suspicious of these people. I don't blame him.

"They're ghouls, just like us, Autry", mum puts a hand on Autry's arm. A gesture of reassurance. For some reason, I felt that these people were definitely _not_ like us in any way.

"Have they learnt how to use their kagune yet?", Marion asks, having already drank her coffee. Autry hasn't even touched his. And neither have I. Autry's remains on the tray, and mine is still steaming in my hands.

"Well, Autry does", mum replies. I remind myself to ask Autry later, about this 'kagune' business.

"Ah, your eldest", Marion clicks open the three latches on Meredith's silver case. "Look, I get that you need to be careful these days, and seeing as it'll probably get harder for things to continue as they are, what do you say, Stella? Can you decide? I mean, I think-"

"Woah, woah, woah", Autry holds up a palm, "what on Earth are you going on about?". I could've sworn Autry's mouth twitched, as if he were holding back a swear.

"It would be much safer", Marion continues, ignoring Autry completely. She sets aside the still unopened case, and stands up with her empty mug. "Anyone finished their coffee yet?", she walks over to me and my unsipped mug. Mum replies a 'no', when Marion makes a move to take it, but then draws her hand back. "Ah, seems you haven't finished yours", she ruffles my hair. This familiar gesture then reminds me of the lady who first brought us here and gave us our false documentation. The one with the black mask and red lips. But today, she doesn't smell in the least, like aftershave.

She goes to the kitchen, and we hear the tap running, as Marion washes her mug (Mum tries to tell her that she should just leave the mug in the sink). Then the metallic vibration, as she sets it down to dry.

In the awkward silence that ensues, I manage a few sips of the coffee. Autry and I wait patiently for mum to say something. Meredith and the hat-guy are stone-still. Not to my surprise.

Not wanting to waste the coffee, I drink down about half, feeling self-conscious of every little sound I make.

"So, have you thought about it yet? He would be safer, happier. It's not too late for him to have a normal life-"

"Just stop!" Mum cuts in._ Is Marion talking about dad? Does that mean dad is still alive?_

"Kiev" mum speaks to me.

"Uh, yes?" _I want to know more! _

"Go to your room", and . . . mum gives the death sentence. "You can leave the coffee on the tray, and finish one of the reading exercises, okay?", she smiles to say that whatever-situation is under control. To me, it's out of reach, and I'll probably have to ask Autry about what they spoke about without me, later.

It is only when I fully close the door to my room, that they start talking again. I can only pick up muffled vibrations. I just feel too lazy and tired, so stop halfway through the comprehension questions.

Oh, the irony, I just had coffee, and yet my eyelids feel heavy. I pack up my pencils in the pencil case Autry got for me with his first wage from a part-time job at the local shopping centre. The blue and grey zippers start to blur into a moss-coloured mud before my eyes.

When I lie on my bed, I suddenly remember that I should probably turn off the light first. But I just feel so tired-

* * *

_**I know, I know, that chapter was kinda short but I can PROMISE to you, that the next chapter will be around a third longer than the usual. And I just realised that the main themes aren't actually very apparent in this chapter, so sorry for any false-hopes given last chapter. I'll see you next week with the longer chapter,**_

_**(damn, I've forgotten my username) **_


	6. Caught05-in a nightmare

**_Uh, well, I know I said I'd update later(actually, did I?), but the story is just moo-ving waaay too slowly and it's gotta be annoying you guys more than it is me, cos I just feel like screaming-out spoilers at the top of my lungs, right about now. Sorry, no, I won't do that, but here's the long-ish chapter. I thought it should be fine to do a double-release, since I was already onto writing Caught#07 anyway, so enjoy the chapter^^_**

* * *

[the third person]

Kiev was too heavily pulled towards sleep, to hear the loud shouts in the next room. Don't you wonder why?

Marion was in the middle of explaining.

"Of, course it would be for Kiev's own good! It will let him have a normal life, just like all the other children his age!", she continued to insist.

"Don't you dare say my brother's name like that- You don't even give a crap about the wellbeing of my little brother! What, you think we would just gladly sacrifice him as your little guinea pig, in the name of some kinda so-called '_friendship_' you've fantasised!", Autry's voice rose with each sentence. He wanted this evil-on-legs out of his home, never to return. If he'd looked a little closer, he would've noticed that Marion looked genuinely hurt. But he didn't.

What he _did_ notice was the open briefcase on their coffee table. It could be likened to a manicure set, in the way that bands of elastic held down the all the items inside. But the implements weren't meant to be used for your fingernails. They were designed to make precise and neat cuts in flesh. No scars. Most of the time.

The other case remained closed upon Gregory's lap. Kiev didn't know this, but Gregory was the name of the man in the black fedora. Gregory didn't like the name and preferred "Greg" or even better, just "G".

Stella sat as still as him, half-listening to the two people arguing. She was trying to think, but the noise wouldn't stop.

"But you don't understand! Look at the poor boy, holed-up at home, isolated from the rest of the world! Stella, listen to me, please! You can't let this happen. You have work, and Autry has university. And what does Kiev have? Textbooks and exercise books that don't talk. That is _not_ a life-"

"Enough" Stella had finally lost all patience. Her oldest friend and eldest son were both yelling at each other right in front of her, and neither would just shut-up. It was frustrating. She knew the two would shut-up for good, with the next sentence.

"I was planning to send Kiev to school soon anyway".

There was a silence, like a pause button freezing-over the scene. Marion and Autry looked like frozen sculptures, Marion; arms crossed and standing, Autry; leaning forwards and sitting. What was uncanny was the way both their gazes were turned in piercing shock towards Stella.

"Look, how else do you think you got into uni', Autry?", Stella's voice was dangerously low. Was this because of her son, or because of her friend? "Home-schooling just isn't going to work."

"But is he old enough? I mean, if someone recognised him . . . like last time . . .", Autry's voice trailed off.

"Never mind last time!" , Stella didn't want to have to explain it all to Marion.

Going to school wasn't a good idea for Kiev. Not when there were so many people who could remember your face there; teachers, staff, parents, other students . . . all liabilities to a ghoul on the run.

[Kiev's dream]

I'm standing at the edge of a deep, dark hole. Everything around me is a swirling mass of black and red fog. Strangely, I can see myself for a moment and I'm wearing a school uniform. The little boy, standing at the edge of the abyss is me from a different time. The nervousness and anxiety shows in his face, as he fiddles with his fingers, bending them and curling them, clenching fists and unclenching fists.

_"__Come on then, what's your name?"_ A voice asks.

_"__K-Kiev. I'm Kiev. I was home-schooled, so . . ."_, the boy manages to stammer a half-lie into the abyss. I can feel an intense feeling of dread. The boy wants to run, he wants to hide, and to never come back.

But he knows he has to do it. He has to jump right into that scary hole, before it shuts him out and seals up forever. But what if just as he jumps in, the hole seals up, and then he can never get out even if he wanted to?

In the hole is a perfectly clean classroom, completely unaffected by the swirling atmosphere and shifting environment. Another classroom to start anew. A new life as a new person. A new human, not a frightening ghoul. The sense of dread rises again.

I know what is coming next and I don't want to see it, even if it is just a dream.

The hole suddenly moves itself towards me and yanks me into the classroom, pulling me in by the ankle. I'm flailing my arms even though I know it's no use and I'm just screaming and begging 'no' over and over again.

But then I find myself sitting on a huge pile of naked, wooden dolls. Except there is something strange about them and I know that they must be the students in the classroom. There is no teacher and the tables and chairs have all disappeared.

One of the dolls moves and then it's not a doll anymore, but another boy of the same age as different-me. There's recognition in his eyes and he says so innocently _"Oh, so it's Kiev! Do you remember me -I moved schools?"_, he's pointing at himself, with an expectant look.

_"__N-no, no I don't",_ different-me is lying and crying.

_"__No?"_ the other boy frowns as he takes a step closer to me, and the rest of the dolls have now turned into a moist, black moss. I try to step back away from the other boy, to turn and run.

A black vine with ink -feathers instead of leaves suddenly shoots out from the moss ahead of me, whipping itself backwards, hitting me clean in the face. I fall over, the moss staining my knees and the heels of my palms. The other boy continues to advance on me, with sure, heavy strides.

By the time he has walked around to the front of me, I have my head in my knees, my hands over my ears. But this is a dream. I can hear see every single thing that happens here, no matter what I do.

The boy stoops down, so that his face is close to mine, now lifted.

"I thought you would've missed me?", his pout is sarcastic. "Now, I wonder what it is that's wrong with you . . ?", now there's a vicious grin on his face and I just want to wake up from this nightmare of a monster (or _monster _of a _nightmare_ – whatever, whichever). He's raising his arms high, out behind him, and I want the boy out of my face and I don't know and don't want to know what will happen next-

"Eugene!".

My armpits are clammy my eyes hurt and the pillow feels too hot.

I just remembered my first, last and _only_ friend's name.

* * *

**_Hi again. I'm thinking that perhaps I should get my lazy ass around to properly naming the chapters. Probably just to help avoid confusion, because to tell you the truth, I forget what's happened and what hasn't, and perhaps proper titles would help the writing process. _**

**_And for those who were a little confused, yes, the chapter did indeed go from third-person(no-one's point-of-view) to first-person (Kiev's point-of view). And, no, the third-person is not a character. _**

**_Oh, and I still so badly want to tell you a spoiler, but as the author, I guess that's just not allowed and would be very un-author-like. So I won't. But things should get kicking in a couple more chapters - just please hang on. _**

**_Oh, and here's a non-spoiler instead:_**

**_You know how Eugene appears in Kiev's dream and raises his arms behind him, axe-murderer-style? _**

**_Maybe he was just taking a big, long stretch. Yeah, that's it. _**

**_I'm not sure whether I should properly introduce the readers to Eugene yet, but I'm sure he'd love to meet you guys anyway^^_**

**_Thanks for reading,_**

**_STARdini (I remembered that I can just see my username in the top-most, right-corner *FACEPALM*) _**


	7. Caught06-in a room

[still, the third person]

"Someone recognised him, after our second name-change", Stella's explanation was much more condensed than Marion had hoped. But Stella's patience was wearing thin and that was the best anyone was going to get out of her for now.

Autry could remember well, what had happened, and didn't need any reminding. His little brother had managed to make good friends with a certain boy called Eugene, who then moved away, when his family had to move, because of his father's job.

But Kiev's family moved away two short months later, for an entirely different reason; to run from the investigators. Again.

It was mere coincidence and perhaps poor foresight that allowed the two friends to meet again. When Kiev's family changed their names for the second time, Kiev also had to change schools. This time, Autry and Stella picked out a large school, with many students and faces that Kiev could easily hide among. What the two didn't know, was that Eugene had also moved to that very same school. What else they didn't know, was that Eugene was also in the very same class that Kiev was assigned to. The first day Kiev attended Rock River Primary, was also the last day he would ever set foot in a school again. Autry was absorbed in his thoughts when his head suddenly whipped up at something that Marion had said.

"Now all I need to do is give him some anaesthetic – Kiev should already be asleep by now".

"Wha-", Stella couldn't understand

"You drugged his coffee!", Autry recalled why Marion had unnecessarily touched Kiev's mug earlier that evening.

"_Eugene!_"

Everyone stopped when they heard a scream coming from Kiev's room.

"And see? Just because you were all talking and objecting too much, we're already run out of time – the poor boy's already awake", Marion began to glare at Autry. But Autry didn't see, because he was already making his way towards Kiev's room.

Kiev had definitely _been_ asleep as three people observed from the doorway. They looked like squirrels hiding behind a tree. Autry pushed his way between his mother and Marion and bent down by Kiev's bed.

"Kiev, are you alright?", Autry could see the wild look in his brother's eyes as if the younger boy had just walked through a storm. His hair was a damp mess of liquorice-black with the sheen of fresh sweat.

It took a few moments for Kiev to respond, as he looked around the room, taking a few deep breaths.

" . . . he's not here . . .", Kiev muttered, pale fingers raking through his hair.

"Did you have a nightmare?", Autry asked.

"I-I'm not sure . . .", Kiev lay his hands in his lap now.

"You screamed out Eugene's name".

"Did I?", Kiev's eyes widened. He'd thought it was part of a dream. And now he could remember that it actually was a nightmare. He was trying to get used to the sound of his voice, in contrast with that of the screaming boy in the dream.

"I think he was going to kill me-" Kiev stopped when he saw Marion and his mother enter the room. "I did do some of the work, I just got kind of tired halfway and-"

"-Don't worry, that was Marion's fault", Autry squeezed his brother's hand. Kiev let go and sat cross-legged on the bed, hands in lap.

"Was it the coffee?", Kiev was quick to remember.

Marion nodded.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you drug me? Was it so that I wouldn't hear what you were saying?"

"No-"

"It's because she's crazy. Mum – why can't we just kick her out of the house?", Autry's tone was impatient.

"Why? What's going on? Why won't anyone tell me. I don't even know what a RC is or a ka . . .-whatever-it-is looks like!"

"RC _cells_ are what make up a ghoul's _kagune_-"

"Stop it Marion, that's enough", it had been a long day, and Stella was more than sick of it by now.

"But-"

"I'll think about it, okay? I'll call you tomorrow", Stella silenced any further inquiry, as she escorted the three strange people out the door.

Kiev and Autry just stared.

_How, and why, the hell does mum have that whacky lady's number?_

* * *

**_Hey, _**

**_So I was rethinking this whole soliloquy thing. I mean isn't it just really annoying, to have the author just jabbering away and ruining your reading-experience? In fact I have a policy of not judging a book by its author- for all I know, my favourite reads may have been crafted by a serial killer or some peadophilic rapist and I'd still read their writing (definitely wouldn't go for a book-signing though!). _**

**_Well, forgetting that for a moment, no, I probably won't be using the third person all that often. I just needed readers to know a couple of things before Kiev did. And brace yourselves; the next couple chapters aren't actually all that exciting. But I'm considering double-releases, to get the plot moving faster, so that readers don't need to wait a whole week for no action. And sorry, but I can't really say now, when the fight scenes will come in. Here's a warning; might be a while yet for the horror._**


	8. Caught07-in the apartment

[back to Kiev]

I still don't understand why Marion drugged me, and Autry won't tell me. But he did tell me about 'kagune' being the name for a ghoul's weapon.

"So do you and mum have ones too?".

"Of course".

"Also me, right?", I expect a nod, but Autry just freezes for a moment, "Autry?", I poke his shoulder tentatively.

"Of course, but you just won't be using it for a while . . ."

"What do they look like?"

"Huh?"

"The wea-kagune?", I'm still trying to get used to the new word and have to correct myself each time I try to call it a weapon.

"Umm . . . scaly? Well, they move around a lot".

"All on their own?", I imagined a tower of knives throwing themselves at a faceless investigator. Autry just laughs and tells me they move according to our own will.

"Eh? So like telekinesis?".

Again, the laugh.

"No, Kiev, not like telekinesis. More like an arm or a leg". _That just sounds . . .weird._ "Well, like an extension of your back . . .", Autry adds.

" . . . and . . . I don't get it", my face must look as blank as the page that was meant to be Autry's homework, because he just sighs in frustration and drags his palms down his face.

"Sorry, I'm not explaining this right, am I? You know what? -I'll explain this to you when I get home from classes today. Seeya", Autry swings his bag over his shoulder and heads for the door.

I call out a low farewell, and go over to the kitchen to wash the mug Autry abandoned on the dining table. I still haven't finished with mine and decide to make another cup of coffee, in case I randomly fall asleep like last week and end up getting nightmares.

I wonder what Eugene could be up to right now. Has he already forgotten all about a kid called Kiev, who suddenly ran out of his primary school classroom with tears streaming down their nervous face, right after seeing his?

I sure hope he's forgotten.

Maybe he's rushing school this morning, late as he used to be, or laughing and talking with other humans people in his class-

I hear someone knocking on the door.

_Stupid, you've been thinking about dumb things just because of some dumb reoccurring nightma-dream you've had over . . . - for almost two weeks . . ._

I'm surprised when I peek through the peephole, to see a familiar, but strange face.

What is _she_ doing here? It's the one who started my nightmares in the first place.

"Look, your mum knows I'm here, so just let me in –I haven't got anyone with me and it's not like I'd murder my own friend's son", the way Marion says the last part makes me wonder who she _would_ murder. And it's true that hat-guy and Meredith aren't with her this time-

The home phone's ringing. _Gosh, what is with all the distractions, today? _

I decide that it's fine to let Marion think that there is no one home, and answer the call. It's mum.

"Kiev?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm just two minutes away, so don't open the door for Marion, just yet".

"Why, what about work?", I ask. _How did mum know that Marion was here?_

"Don't worry, I got a break, so just don't open the door, okay? You don't have to say or do anything", and then mum just hangs up on me. There's no longer anyone knocking but _banging_ on the door.

"Um, Marion, can you hear me?", I've dragged a small stool over to the door and am staring comfortably through the peephole.

"Ah, so you _are_ at home".

"Well, yeah, but I can't open the door right now, so if you could just wait a few more minutes?".

"How many?", I can see her look at her watch doubtfully. "Is Stella not home yet?".

I tell her no, and ask her about what I really want to know;

"What were you guys talking about while I was asleep?".

She looks up sharply and her lips thin to a single red line on her face. I know now, that she's not going to tell me. Mum must have told her not to. I try asking her about RC cells again.

"They're exactly what I told you they were – _'Red Child' _cells that have all accumulated in the RC organ -the RC organ is called the kakuja- which then bursts through the skin and forms a kagune.".

_I don't understand half of what you just said, but it sure sounds painful._

"Where is the RC-thingy kept?", I press my ear harder to the door.

"Hasn't anyone told you? – tch, of course not, those . . ."

"Autry _was_ going to tell me, but that doesn't matter now -Tell me, how do we use our kagune?"

"You really shouldn't worry about that".

"Why no-", I stop mid-way, when I see mum's face through the peephole. I quickly step off the stool and run to put it back in the kitchen.

Just as I rush back to the door, the voices of Marion and mum stop, and mum yells for me to open the door. I count about five seconds before I finally turn the lock.

"Did you run, Kiev?", mum smiles, as she lets Marion in. I mumble a half-yes, and she's too busy to notice anything strange about it.

From my spot at the dining table, I have a clear view of the couches that the two women are sitting on. There's no coffee this time.

When mum gives furtive glances in my direction I quickly look back at the screen I was meant to be playing a game on. We don't really have internet at home, and Autry's always complaining about it when he has to go to the library, each time there's a research assignment to do. When Autry goes to the library, he also takes the tablet with him, so he can download apps for me to pass the time with.

I haven't left this apartment for over four years.

* * *

_**Okay, so that was a really late update, I know - sorry.**_

_**But at least the chapter is maybe a little longer than usual, so . . . it's even, now?**_

_**Lately I've been thinking that I should've swapped Autry and Kiev's names. Like, 'Autry' sounds like a better main character than 'Kiev'. Hmm, maybe- sill not sure on that one. Well I'm always either over-thinking or under-thinking characters' names . . .**_

_**Well, happy reading!**_


	9. Caught08-in the grasp of fear

"Would you like to try going to school again?", Mum asks with a thin smile. Her eyes are open and I know it's not the threatening kind I've seen her smile at a few ghouls others before.

"Well?", Marion presses.

I can see it already – teachers with quinque instead of rulers, and students with too many teeth to all fit in their mouths. And then there's me, just standing in the middle of it all shaking and crying like I was in the dream, except this time I'll be a little taller and wearing a different uniform. But fear is always the same. – A creeping dread that envelopes you in its ever-reaching fingers.

"No".

The two women look at each other and then back at me.

"Why?", mum is frowning in confusion. "Is this because of Eugene?", a look of knowing settles over her features, as she straightens herself a little.

"Well, don't worry, we'll make sure you won't see each other. And even if he did, he probably wouldn't recognise you anyway", Marion tries to reassure me. The concern in her voice makes me notice the shaking in my knees.

There are spiders. It feels like spiders are crawling all over me, hatching all their itchy little eggs all over me.

I sit on the couch, trying to un-widen my eyes and steady the tremors up my arms. To remedy this, I sit on my hands. Mum is holding onto my shoulder.

"What is it that you're so worried about, Kiev? Come on, it's alright to tell me. Speak your mind", She rubs my back.

"Why would you want to stay cooped up in this tiny apartment all your life? You're going to need to get out of here one day, you know?", Marion reminds me of her presence.

"But what if Eugene happens again?", I direct the question at mum. I have regained my posture, and sit up straight, facing mum.

"We'll make sure that he-"

"No, I mean with someone else. Why would I go to school and risk so much, when I could just study at home?".

Mum's gentle face turns sober.

"No", she says it in monotone. "Autry went to school, I went to school, and now _you_ need to, as well. What do you think is going to happen when you grow up and you won't be able to depend on me or Autry anymore? You need to know how to depend on yourself and ask help from those around you, starting tomorrow!"

" . . . Tomorrow?!", _What is she saying!?_

Marion just sighs into her palm.

"What happened to careful explanation, Stella? Well, since the damage is already done . . .", Marion is visibly upset.

"But how? Don't you have work, mum? And Autry has classes in the morning. I don't even have books or the uniform – you're lying".

But mum doesn't say anything. Her silence tells me the truth.

Marion quickly fills the silence with lengthy explanation. She would be the one to drop me off at school and I could go home on the bus. But for the first week, Autry would come home with me, just so I could get used to it. Apparently the uniform and books were already sorted. I don't get how and when they managed to plan so much without me knowing a single thing. I feel somehow betrayed. They prepared all this for me and they except me to just simply accept it. But no matter how I try to justify myself, I can only remember what mum said about dependence.

"Fine, I'll go", I mutter. I know I have little choice in the matter anyway.

"Wait", Marion says, when I get up to leave. I turn to face her.

"The world has changed", she says.

"I know –it's been four years", I retort. I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think I'm in the mood to talk to anyone anymore.

"The government has set up RC-level detectors", Marion states.

I stare blankly. _No shit._ I knew what RC-detectors were, and I sure as hell knew that they were set up in CCG offices and other places affiliated with governmental operations.

"No, they're starting to set them up in public spaces too, so be careful to avoid them", mum attempts to clear away my confusion.

"That means places like stadiums and probably shopping centres and schools soon too", Marion finally adds. "And the only school we could get you in, this late in the year, and was nearby that you hadn't already been to, was Helensgrove".

"What is that, a girls' school?", I thought the name sounded ridiculous.

"No", mum gives an amused sigh, "it's co-ed – the name just sounds a little feminine".

"And did you check that Eugene doesn't go there?"

Mum hesitates and I notice. Marion enjoys the view of the carpet.

"Kiev, I'm sorry, but we only found out after we had a look into it ourselves – we would have told you sooner if we knew . . .", mum brushes the hair out of my face, with her palm. I sit stone-still; apprehensive.

She sighs, "Eugene died a long time ago".

* * *

**_Sorry, please don't kill me. This update is later than I'd meant it to be. - Exams are like demons on ecstasy-a higher dose than usual, anyway. _**

**_Also thanks to _darkflameslayer_ for following and favouriting(I just made up a new word there . . .) this story!_**

**_And if anyone has any extra feedback or criticism about the plot/story just let me know^^_**

**_I mean, personally, I feel that the plot is feeling a little boring for the moment. - When I started writing this, I was hoping for something with more psychological themes and lots of action (and sort-of-violence . . . ehehe . . .). Well, hopefully I'll improve, and we'll get it there^^ _**

**_And thanks so much for all the following and reviewing - I swear I get a heart-attack each time I see that some one has followed, favourited or reviewed this story (don't worry, it's not the kind of heart attack that's too detrimental to my health^^). _**

**_Well, hopefully see you guys next week, with the next chapter!_**


	10. Caught09-by the teacher

"How're you feeling?" Marion turns the wheel and makes a smooth turn to the right. Her eyes remain on the road, even as she talks to me.

"Uh, a little queasy?"- it seems that not riding in any vehicles for a full four years has made me susceptible to motion-sickness. I don't even feel like answering her question. But there's something intimidating about riding a car with a stranger. Especially if that stranger is the one who's driving. It was her car too.

"Haha, I was asking about going to school, but I guess car-sickness . . ."

"Why'd you dye your hair blonde?", I ask, to change the topic. No one needed to remind me of the sloshing in my stomach.

"So you remember me?", it wasn't so much of a question, than a statement. "Well, I didn't – I just let it grow back to its natural colour. When you saw me that time, I'd dyed it then".

For some reason, Marion never quite registered as a natural blonde to me.

"Moving on, do you have any questions about _today?_", Marion asks.

"Nope", I answer.

"Well, just make sure that if anyone asks who you live with, you can tell the truth. But if they ask about your father, it's none of their business, or your mother has never told you", Marion instructs. I completely agree with the last part. "And if anyone asks, just say that I'm a family friend. If they ask you for details, I'm someone your mother knows better than you do", Marion adds.

"Right", I answer a little too quickly. I hadn't meant it, but it was difficult to hold a conversation when your head and stomach were both swimming together. The worse thing was that the pain wasn't constant and just wouldn't stay put. It keeps throbbing and pulsating, moving and changing like oil slipping in water. I really wish I hadn't had that extra, nervous cup of coffee that morning.

"What's wrong?", Marion notices my expression.

"Umm, can I walk to school?".

"Not today – we'll be late otherwise", she says after a pause.

_Not today_. I'm surprised she even considered it. And thankful too, on behalf of my stomach.

The whole of the school is surrounded by a navy-blue metal fence. A white board bears the school's name next to an open, blue book. I'm guessing the blue book is the school logo.

I notice this all from the safety of the car window. A sheet of curved glass; keeping me from the outside world, and the outside world from me.

There's a boy looking at his watch.

There are two girls talking with each other. One is kicking at the grass, and another is laughing.

There's a bored looking woman with her arms crossed, standing near the front gates.

There's even a grumpy-looking crossing-lady with a face like a bulldog.

**there's just so many of them **

And suddenly the idea of getting out of the car -let alone walking for a whole forty minutes to school every morning- is not a very good one. I can't do it. Not out there.

"Shell-shocked?" Marion grins at me, as if she had expected this.

_How do I do this? Will I standout? Will they realise that there's something wrong with me? Will they know I'm not human?_

"Come on", Marion's already parked the car and has opened the door for me. The cold air sticks to my cheeks and the wind waters my eyes. I can hear the voices of students mingling like the subtle chorus fading-out at the end of a song.

This time Marion puts her hand into the car and hauls out my bag. It's actually pretty heavy, so I have no idea how she managed to pull it out so easily with just one arm. "We can't be late since it's our first day today- you know what they say about first impressions", Marion pushes the open gap of the car door, wider.

It's freezing, and I can't stop my teeth from chattering. I hate it. Marion tells me I'll get used to it in another two or three weeks. That's fifteen whole days of tremoring limbs and pink eyes.

We almost bump into another student when he slides open the door to the classroom, the same time Marion reaches for the handle. The boy has brown hair much like dried weeds and grass. But it's his eyes that are the most striking. The whites are of a lolly-pink tint and at first I think that that's because of the cold, but then I realise that it can't be. It's cosily warm inside the building with its navy woollen carpet and he was just exiting the classroom.

"So what? I've got an eye-infection; you got a problem with that?", the boy startles me with a scratchy voice.

I realise then, that I'm staring too bluntly. I mumble a quick apology.

"Well, William has a problem, does he?", Marion names the boy and leans slightly, in his direction.

_These two know each other? _But the look on the boy's face says that he's just as surprised as I am. He quickly recovers and slides the door in our faces, presumably dropping the idea of leaving the classroom - as he had clearly meant to, earlier. Marion just calmly opens the door again. I can't see her face, but her posture remains as straight as ever.

There's a man with steel-grey hair standing in front of a class of bored looking students. To my childish relief, he isn't holding a quinque -or even a ruler.

I can only see the teeth of one student yawning in the middle of the front row. His teeth look much the same as any other teeth I've seen, save for a bit of plaque where he may not have brushed properly. Gross. I think I can see strings of saliva. They are almost invisible in the light, but glisten and let me know they're there.

The boy with eye-infection is sitting at a table furthest to my left, in the back. Mercifully, the tables are speckled grey squares in rows; nothing like the wooden tables and dolls of the classroom in my nightmares.

Frantically, I search the faces in the classroom, to see if any one of them might be familiar -that any one of them might be Eugene. As I accidentally lock eyes with a few, I realise with a sickening sinking of the stomach, that I'm not so sure that I could even remember Eugene's face anymore. Even if I saw a photo of him now, I might not be able to recognise him. I try to console myself with the fact that that he's dead and couldn't possibly be sitting as a ghost in a classroom full of live children. Even so, isn't someone's death a rather grotesque kind of consolation? A small part of me does miss him, and it feels wrong to be relieved that the only human able to recognise me as the old Kiev, is dead.

"Well, you guys have a new classmate now. We know it's pretty late in the year now, so I want you all to be as helpful and welcoming as you can to Kiev", the man with steel-grey hair says. He introduces himself as the principal, and I wonder where the teacher is.

But then the principal continues, "You also have a new teacher; Mrs Elstwick".

I have no idea what to be shocked about first:

**1**.That she even _has_ a surname.

**2.**That she is actually married to someone.

**3.** That Marion is now my teacher.

* * *

_**So, who here, is sick of blonde jokes? **_

_**Well I hope you aren't getting sick of the story. Well, Kiev just had to be sent to school, so he could develop as a character through his interactions with others and blah blah blah, that you guys probably don't want me to rant about. **_

_**Well, point is, things should get interesting. And I wonder if this is a spoiler, but . . . Kiev will be going on a school excursion soon. It'll probably sound boring when revealed, but trust, me there's a reason for it - No! Stuff that! Right, so about Marion, her credentials as a teacher are actually legit, but more on that later, haha. **_

_**And I get that even though this is meant to be a fanfiction, all the characters in here so far are my own TT TT. But I promise that characters from the original Tokyo Ghoul will make an appearance. I guess not using official characters as mains, was a big mistake for my first fanfiction, so I apologise.**_

_**Anyway, sorry about the late update - I'll probably have the next chapter ready within the week^^;**_


	11. Caught10-peeking

Marion – or _Mrs Elstwick _\- has every single name and face in the class memorised. I mean, who _does that_?

* * *

During recess, some children remain in the classrooms to eat and the majority go outside. From the window, I can see students playing ball games on the concrete squares and partially bald oval. The children there, all appear confident and some of them look . . . kind of snobbish.

Well, to be fair, every one inside doesn't look all that open to conversation either, and keep to themselves. Feeling a vertical cloud of coldness from the glass, I move away from the window and find a seat in the corner, behind the heater. The heater is a tall, vertical, cream-painted, metal structure fixed to the wall. If it were a coffin, it could have fit me inside, with room still to spare.

"Hey, the seat next to the heater's mine", a tall, lanky boy whinges. I don't pay any attention, until I realise that he's talking to me. Feeling annoyed and heat-deprived, I point out that the seat I'm sitting is in actual fact, _behind_ the heater, and not _next_ to it.

"So? Same thing. So stop being fussy and just move over, brat", the lanky kid says as he leans in threateningly.

"Ack",I almost fall off my chair, when I see his hair. _It's bright pink!_ Does the school even allow that? Well, at my last school it wasn't anyway.

"What, are ya scared?", the lanky kid leers, noticing my surprised expression.

"Well, I'm not the one with a blushing rose, for a head", I mutter. I hear a few sniggers in the back. _Tch._ I spoke too loud. If I had spoken a little quieter I might save my self some trouble –

Too late.

The lanky kid gives me a slap powerful enough to really knock me off my chair this time. But I don't give him that satisfaction. With a bruised cheek, I stand up, pushing the chair out and shoving the table just below his stomach. In one swift movement, I pick up my bag and push the chair back in, letting its momentum push the table into the lanky kid again. He's too busy cursing at his stomach, to stop me from leaving the room.

Where else was warm, that I could go to now? I was kicking myself for acting too rashly. Maybe I could have just went ahead and given the kid the seat, and still found a spot close to the heater. But he really shouldn't have slapped me. If he hadn't leered in my face the way he had, then maybe he wouldn't be feeling a guy's greatest pain right now. It was entirely his fault for annoying me like that. And I may have ve even done the world a small favour, if he can't have kids that'll just end up like him.

* * *

The library is quiet. And well-heated.

Nobody looks up or asks me anything when I walk in. It's like a place where everybody just happily ignores each other. I like it.

I look around for a way to pass the time and before I know it, I've walked into the picture-storybook section. I plan on backing out of the section, when a black and red-striped cover catches my eye. Curious, I pull it out of the shelf. It looks a little strange for a children's storybook, with a cloth-bound cover. It's when I notice that the book doesn't have a protective layer of plastic film or at least a library sticker-label on it, that I realise that this must not belong in the library at all. Even so, under the pretence of finding the owner of the book, I open to the first page. I'm half-relieved when the page I'm looking at is not someone's private diary entry.

Or maybe not.

Instead, there is a black fine-liner sketch of a figure with an overly toothy grin, like the students in my nightmares. His eyes were rough circles holding nothing but the lined grain of the paper. But what was most grotesque about him (it had haphazard triangles of short hair sticking out) was the way his back was arched painfully backwards, with his clawed hands splayed outwards. Those claws were dripping with something dark and viscous. Presumably parts of the three slack corpses scribbled at his feet. They had straight streams of tears coming out of eyes, like the splayed figure's, stopping only at the ends of their faces. The corpse closest to the figure was smaller than the rest and had been slashed in half. I then realised that the corpses must represent a family. A father, a mother and a small child. All dead.

And the monstrous figure? He had strange, sharp, tentacle-like extensions sprouting from his back, that took up half the page and were probably as long as he was tall.

I was startled into dropping the book, when I heard a voice behind me, "Hey, what are you doing with _my_ book?".

* * *

**_I really hope no one took that chapter-title the wrong way . . . I had to stop myself when I automatically thought of using the word 'peeping'. I blame manga for almost always using the word in a negative context _^;_**


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